


Tearing Up by the Roots

by Blanska



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Future, M/M, Tevinter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 04:39:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4652583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blanska/pseuds/Blanska
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Give away fic inspired by the song: HIM - Please Don't Let It Go. Not everyone likes that Dorian wants to change things in Tevinter and they will always try to get rid of him somehow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tearing Up by the Roots

Dorian reached for his staff and stepped forward to face the cloaked men who were slowly surrounding him. 

“Get her out.” he told his lover.

“I’m not going to leave you!” the young girl shouted as Samahl tried to calm her and keep her from going to the other mage.

“Yes, you are.” Dorian said quietly after turning back to the attackers. 

“Dorian. Be careful.” he heard the elf say. It was rare that Samahl sounded this fearful and this only made the situation seem even graver than before. “You hear me?” Dorian looked back to him for just a second, he didn’t wish to lose sight of the enemy, but even that quick look was enough to assure Samahl that he doesn’t intend to die just yet. 

The elf took the girl’s hand, and then they left with great haste. Dorian hoped that they would find a quick and safe way out of the mansion. He knew exactly what a powerful healer Samahl was, but still he worried that something would go wrong and- 

This wasn’t the time to think about such nonsense. He needed to focus. Even if he wouldn’t be able to defeat them, he needed to keep these men back until he sees a way to escape. One mage against many. How desperate their enemies must be to attack them in such a dishonorable way. They must really want House Pavus out of the way. Well, they’re not gonna get rid of them so easily.

“I’m sure you are aware that I have many enemies in Tevinter nowadays.” Dorian said while slowly taking steps towards a more promising spot in the room. “But which one sent _you_ , I wonder?” 

“All of them.” a cold female voice replied, then without any more hesitation, one of the hooded figures launched an attack. 

Dorian quickly countered the spell, and sent a lightning towards his foes. They didn’t look like they wanted to continue the conversation, all the mages began to cast spells, while the three warriors – probably templars – waited behind them in a safe distance. There were five mages, who attacked Dorian in turns, so he rarely had time for anything else other than defending himself. They were probably waiting for him run out of mana or get tired and lose focus, and he knew that at this rate, it wouldn’t take very long. He needed to take out one of them as soon as possible, and for that he needed a barrier. It will cost precious mana, yes, but it will give him time, maybe enough to kill even two enemies.  

As soon as his barrier appeared, he started shooting at the mage he thought was the weakest of the five. He knew a lot of powerful spells, but he was afraid to use too much mana and hoped that being careful will reward him on the long run. But he could already feel the barrier weakening, and the all five mages were still very much alive, so he conjured an intense lightning which finally got rid of the man he was targeting. 

Then the others’ magic ripped through his barrier, and a spell sent horrible pain all over his body. He backed off, and did his best not to fall to the ground. He supported himself with the staff, he wanted to gather his thoughts and carry on fighting, but then he noticed a drop of blood on the floor. Then another, and another. This didn’t bode well at all… Sadly, this fight wasn’t going as he hoped it would and suddenly the image of Samahl running off with the young girl returned to his mind. If Dorian would die here, Samahl would probably raise him from the dead just to kill him again.  No. He would never do such thing. He’d be devastated. Dorian knew he had to survive this combat, but at the moment that didn’t seem possible at all. So he thought, if he had to go, he better take as many of these bastards with him as he could.

Dorian sent a spell rushing through the air, and managed to surprise his enemies. The moment of shock was gone quickly, but so was the patient rhythm of the combat. The entire room turned into magical chaos. Dorian barely paid attention to protecting himself from enemy attacks, instead he was more focused on doing as much damage as it was humanly possible. Then suddenly an indescribable pain paralyzed his whole body, and with great force pulled him to the ground. 

He had the ill fortune of experiencing this feeling a few times before, falling victim to blood magic. Just the thought of it could sicken him any day, but this… was a torment he didn’t wish on his greatest enemies. Or did he?

Dorian was on the ground, defeated and drained. From the corner of his eye, he could see the warriors approaching. There was blood, his own blood everywhere around him. So this is how it all ends? Everything he worked for. Everything he had built will be drowned in his own blood. He did not want to let them win. He couldn’t accept that all his hard work, all the sacrifices were for nothing. That he didn’t matter in the end. If he had any more strength… if somehow he could turn the situation against his enemies. But the solution was there all along. Literally everywhere on the floor. And Dorian was just lying there on the ground, wishing he would have the strength to do it and terrified that perhaps he’d really be capable of such thing. But if he’s already losing everything, does it matter if he loses himself as well? 

That’s when the sweet, familiar feeling of a barrier taking form around him brought him back from his train of thoughts. At first he wasn’t sure what exactly was happening, but he instantly recognized Samahl’s magic, and with that his presence, which brought a sudden freshness and relief. He could already feel power running through his vein, his body healing and gathering strength from the other mage, and just then did he notice that the two warrior were turned into ice before him. 

Samahl helped him to his feet, and Dorian already felt as strong as ever. “Let’s take them down.” the elf said softly, just like calm wind before the raging storm.  
And raging storm was exactly what came after. Samahl strengthened the barrier, and let all his healing energy flow through Dorian, who let loose something I could only describe as magical hell. He put all his fury into the spells, lightning and fire destroyed their enemies in a matter of seconds.   
After every one of their foes was dead, the barrier disappeared and once again Dorian felt like he was about to drop to his knees and just pass out. Of course Samahl was there to prevent that.

“Where’s Camryn?” Dorian asked once the battle was over.

“She’s safe.” the elf didn’t say more than that, probably didn’t want Dorian to worry too much, he just needed to trust that the other mage was right. 

After some quick healing, the two mages managed to leave the mansion without any complications, and met the young girl outside, in one of the alleys. The three of them slinked along the shadowy streets cautiously, relying mostly on Samahl’s night vision and sharp ears to avoid any more encounters – of which they had more than enough for one night. 

* * *

Dorian expected an overwhelming amount of enemies guarding their mansion, or a great ambush in one of the alleys, but once they reached their home, it became clear that their foes didn’t intend to give them the chance to fight back. The mansion where they’ve been living for almost twenty years was currently burning to the ground. The raging flames have almost devoured all of it by the time they arrived. Dorian could feel his strength leaving him, not from exhaustion, but complete lack of hope. He just sat down on the stones of the street, and watched as his whole life slowly collapsed. 

The three of them were sitting there for a couple of minutes, it was hard to know for sure how many, for these kinds of events tend to change the flow of time. 

“They always wanted us gone.” Dorian finally broke the monotonous atmosphere of cracking fire. “From the very moment we stepped foot into Minrathous, they wanted nothing else just to get rid of these abnormal monstrosities.” he finished the sentence spitting the words out with raw loathing. 

He looked at the elf and the girl. In the orange light of dying fires, he could still see as she was fidgeting with the amulet around her neck. She did that whenever she was worried or thinking about the future. 

“Look at this pile of ashes, Camryn.” Dorian spoke again, his words still fueled by desperation. “One day, this is all going to be yours. You can go ahead now and throw that old piece of rubbish into the river.” 

The girl gave a short frustrated sighed. “You don’t mean that. And you know exactly how much I value it.”

“But it doesn’t have any _true_ value now, does it?” the mage emphasized his point. “It’s over.”

“If it’s up to me, this is very far from over.” the girl announced with as much confidence as it is humanly possible when your home is burning.

“Everything is gone!” Dorian leaned forward to face the others. “They took all our resources, we don’t even have a place to live.”

“We still have friends.” the elf finally spoke.

Dorian leaned back on his elbows and shook his head softly. “The only friends we have left are the kind of people I wouldn’t like to put in such danger.”

“Yes, but we do have friends outside of Tevinter.” 

At first Dorian only reacted with a pleading look to Samahl’s suggestion, then after a moments of searching for the right words, he spoke again. “You do realize that if we were to leave Tevinter, it would mean that we admitted defeat.” Then his voice became even quieter. “Everything we worked for, everything we’ve built, it was for nothing. It didn’t matter. “ His words found a bit of strength and volume once again. “We tried to cut a hole in this world, take roots and make it our own. It took them a couple of years, yes, but they finally managed to cast us out, and erase our very existence. It’s like we had never even come here.”

“That’s not true.” the elf smiled. “It may not seem like that at the moment, but everything you did mattered… and changed things. I don’t see this as defeat.”

“ _Really?_ ” the other mage teased while motioning towards the burning building, which made Samahl chuckle softly and filled his smile with even more warmth.

“We were here. Creators, we’ve spent about half of our lives here. But we still have each other. And we can take that to anywhere in the world. We will take care of each other, and as long as I’m concerned this is what truly matters.”

Camryn moved closer to the elf to give him a hug. “We don’t have much choice, do we?” Dorian sighed. “There’s a life of farming and raising cattle ahead of us.”

“I was thinking we buy a boat and sail on the Frozen Seas until we grow old.” the elf quipped, his words still weighed down by their struggle. 

“That sounds exactly like something I would do.” the other man continued the joke. “It’s incredible how well you know me.”

As the last lights of the fire went out, the three outcasts gathered their things and left the street, then eventually the city, and finally the country. Forever? Perhaps. But I can hardly imagine that the mighty Tevinter had seen the last of them.


End file.
